Episcopal priests can now bless same-sex relationships

Thomas Rabe, right, places a wedding ring on Robert Coffman's finger during a marriage ceremony at City Hall in Baltimore, Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. Same-sex couples in Maryland are now legally permitted to marry under a new law that went into effect after midnight on Tuesday. Maryland is the first state south of the Mason-Dixon Line to approve same-sex marriage. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) (Patrick Semansky)

The Episcopal Church has released a liturgy that its priests across the country may use to bless a same-sex couple's committed relationship.

The blessing or service would not be a legal marriage in Texas and New Mexico because the states do not recognize same-sex unions, and it will be up to each parish priest's discretion to perform the ceremony in consultation with the bishop.

Bishop Michael L. Vono of the Episcopal Diocese of the Rio Grande, which includes El Paso, said the liturgy is an issue of human dignity that breaks barriers for the gay community.

"I'm very positive about it," he said. "We live in an age where there is still a lot of judgment, still a lot of discrimination that happens within Christianity. We exclude people that are not like ourselves.

"So this may be the Jesus thing to do in our age because Jesus forced the issue that no one is rejected by God and that all people are loved. And if you have two responsible people, whether heterosexual or gay, who love in a Christian way -- which is responsibly and exclusively monogamous and help each other and forgive each other -- what more can we ask for?"

The liturgy, "Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant," was developed by the Bishops Advisory Committee during the past nine months. The committee was appointed in March 2012 in anticipation of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, which met in July 2012 in Indianapolis.

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The General Convention, which provides the way the Episcopal Church is governed, approved the liturgy and published the resources for priests. The resources became available Jan. 6.

Vono made clear in a pastoral letter that it is up to each parish priest to offer the blessing.

"No priest or congregation is required to offer these liturgical blessings," he wrote. "My prayer is that as a loving, compassionate and wonderfully diverse diocese, we remain bound together in Christ, and, as we grow faithfully, to respect the various theological and ecclesial differences and interpretation of Scripture, tradition and reason, which model the best of our inherited Anglican polity."

The Episcopal Church has gone through internal controversy during the past few decades, mainly over the ordination of women and the place of homosexuals in the church. More than 200 congregations left the Episcopal Church after the 2003 ordination of the first openly gay bishop in New Hampshire, according to the Anglican Communion Network, a national alliance of conservative Episcopalians.

In El Paso, two churches left the diocese, citing differences in theological doctrine.

The Rev. Thomas Arrowsmith-Lowe, of St. John's Episcopal Church in Alamogordo, was part of a diocesan committee that put together a theological reflection for the liturgy.

Arrowsmith-Lowe praised Vono for including on the committee people who were "not comfortable" with the liturgy.

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María Cortés González

"One of the things Bishop was trying to achieve was balance and representing different perspectives of clergy within the diocese," he said. "And I think what he has done is to give people a sense that even though this is the direction the church is taking, that we're not trying to exclude anyone that may not be comfortable with it."

Arrowsmith-Lowe said he believes the liturgy is a way to recognize committed same-sex unions, but he understands that some people may take issue with it. His own views on homosexuality have evolved over a lifetime.

"I think there will be some sort of continuing concern that may exist for some people, but I do feel like most of the people that are strongly opposed to the direction that the Episcopal Church has taken or the diocese is taking -- most of these people have sort of voted with their feet," he said.

Vono thinks the Episcopal Church can be unified while being diverse and said the current change resonates with previous shifts in the church's understanding of Scripture.

"It's the same kind of experience we had with women's ordination 30 years ago. Even one of the most conservative parishes in Albuquerque today has a woman on its parish staff," he said.

Vono, who believes that being gay is not a choice, said a gay couple can have a loving union. "With the church's knowledge and blessing," he said, "we can see God's goodness and image of God in this kind of healthy monogamous relationship."

Couples seeking the blessing could receive counseling. At least one of the two must be a baptized Christian. The blessing liturgy includes prayers for the couple, commitment vows and the exchanging of rings.

Vono said he expects couples who have been together for many years to be the ones seeking a blessing.

"I know we have couples that have been very patient and in this diocese for many years," he said.

The Rev. Kati Houts, of the Metropolitan Community Church in El Paso, said she is glad the Episcopal Church is taking this step. Her church has been doing same-sex blessings for many years.

"It sounds like a good thing, but what's ironic is that the blessing that I use comes from the book of Common Prayer, which is what the Episcopalians use. We have always looked at this as a marriage, taken seriously and with counseling beforehand."

María Cortés González may be reached at mcortes@elpasotimes.co;m 546-6150.